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Re: Do You Take Your Faith At Face Value?
* Do you consider old-testament stories, like Genesis and Eden to be 100% percent truth?
No. For me, they are in the same boat with Greco-Roman and Norse mythology. They're interesting stories and should be read, (Genesis has so much sex and violence that it makes particularly good reading, but skip Leviticus... VERY intolerant) but basing a civilization and moral system on them is ludicrous.
* Do you consider that god or some divine power inspired or actually wrote the bible?
No. What we call the Bible was compiled by men over many hundreds of years.
* Do you really believe in a heavenly reward for submitting to god in this life?
No. What a scam. And if you ask me, this is not the worst part of religion, but the saddest. It can not ever be proven that there is an afterlife, and that if there is, the system is the one described in the Bible, and not one of the other systems in other world religions, for example re-incarnation. If there is though, mine is gonna suck. I'm perfectly willing to bet eternal damnation on this life being it. If believing in a heaven where you will get rewarded for being good gives you hope and strength to live a good life, then that's great. But so many people deny themselves things that this life has to offer on a sucker bet.
* Can you really rationalise how you can use a computer today, but still fully believe in an ancient and mystic tale?
I don't believe. God's cheerleaders have been wrong way too many times for that (geocentric model, various exact dates the world would end, Oral Roberts being "called home" if he didn't raise enough $$). But here's something to think about. The Bible tells us that God struck down the tower of Babel because it was an attempt by man to work together to reach heaven, but also: "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." (Gen. 11:6) Since you mention computers, wouldn't the internet, designed to allow the world to share information freely and instantly, and to bring us all closer, qualify as man's next "Tower of Babel"? Additionally, since the internet's stigma (partially deserved) is that it's a breeding ground for porn and child predators, why doesn't God shut it off, or why did He allow it to be created in the first place? Right, right... free will. Seems pretty silly. One of my favorite quotes sums it up:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
-Mikey
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